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Bob Menendez’s Endless Summer…

Published: June 17, 2011 | Comments: 0

Bob Menendez’s Endless Summer…

One Year After Declaring “Recovery Summer,” Stimulus Failure Continues To Highlight Menendez’s Reckless Spending, Broken Promises

WASHINGTON — In case liberal U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) lost track of the date and forgot to remind New Jersey voters, it’s been a full year since Menendez and his fellow Washington Democrats declared that it was “Recovery Summer,” promising that their $787 billion in reckless deficit spending would fix America’s ailing economy.

So, to mark the one-year anniversary of Menendez and the Democrats’ “Recovery Summer,” it’s worth examining a few of the claims he and his fellow liberal Democrats made regarding their failed $787 billion stimulus debacle.  For instance…

  • The Obama administration claimed their stimulus would “save or create 3.5 million jobs before 2011,” and Menendez claimed it would “create and save 100,000 jobs in [New Jersey] during the next two years.”  But America has lost nearly 1.9 million jobs and New Jersey has lost 84,101 jobs since the stimulus passed in February 2009.  As President Obama admitted this week, “[s]hovel-ready was not as … uh .. shovel-ready as we expected.”
  • Though Menendez claimed that “New Jersey is going to do exceptionally well” from the stimulus, New Jersey actually received far less stimulus funding per capita than the national average.
  • While Menendez’s party bosses predicted the Democrats’ stimulus would keep unemployment below 8 percent and he claimed that “first and foremost, this package is going to help start creating and saving jobs,” national unemployment nearly two-and-a-half years later is 9.1 percent – and has remained above 8 percent for 28 consecutive months.  New Jersey’s unemployment rate was 9.4 percent in May 2011.
  • And while Menendez claimed the stimulus “is about standing up for New Jersey families, it is about creating jobs, jobs and more jobs,” a report shows that stimulus funds have been ‘invested’ in a large number of outrageous non-job-related projects, including a study to determine the effects of cocaine on monkeys, iPods for high school students, cell phones for smokers trying to quit, and advertising devoted to the promotion of the stimulus bill itself.

Notably, Menendez is the only sitting U.S. Senator currently under federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Bob Menendez still believes it was a good idea for him and his fellow Washington Democrats to add $787 billion to our national debt in order to lose 1.9 million jobs – and that tells New Jersey families all they need to know about whether they can trust his judgment,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond.


FACT CHECK: MENENDEZ’S $787 BILLION STIMULUS FAILED TO CREATE PROMISED JOBS WHILE DRIVING OUR

NATIONAL DEBT PAST $14.3 TRILLION

STIMULUS RHETORIC:

  • “The Obama administration is defending its claim that the $787 billion economic stimulus plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs before 2011 even while conceding that unemployment will likely continue to rise beyond its earlier predictions.” (Stimulus plan will create or save 3.5 million jobs, White House says, Associated Press, 05/11/09)

 

  • Menendez Said The Stimulus Would Create And Save 100,000 Jobs In New Jersey Within Two Years. “[Menendez] said the recovery plan will create and save 100,000 jobs in the state during the next two years. Ninety percent of those jobs will be in the private sector.” (Monsy Alvarado, “Senator Touts Stimulus,” The [Bergen County, NJ] Record, 2/17/09)

 

STIMULUS REALITY:

  • Our Country Has Lost Nearly 1.9 Million Jobs Since The Stimulus Passed In February 2009. (Matt Clover, “1.9 Million Fewer Americans Have Jobs Today Than When Obama Signed Stimulus,” CNS News, 6/14/11)
  • As Of May 2011, New Jersey Lost 84,101 Jobs Since The Stimulus Passed In February 2009. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 6/17/11)
  • President Barack Obama: “Shovel-ready was not as … uh .. shovel-ready as we expected.” (President Barack Obama, Fox News, 06/13/11)

STIMULUS RHETORIC:

  • Menendez: “First And Foremost, This Package Is Going To Help Start Creating And Saving Jobs In Our State.” (Beth DeFalco, “Most New Jersey Residents Will See Stimulus Money,” The Associated Press, 2/14/09)

STIMULUS REALITY:

  • The Unemployment Rate Is 9.1 Percent And Has Remained Above 8 Percent For 28 Straight Months. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 6/3/11)

  • New Jersey’s Unemployment Rate Was 8.0% When The Stimulus Passed In February 2009. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 6/2/11)

  • New Jersey’s Unemployment Rate Was 9.4% In May 2011. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 6/17/11)

STIMULUS RHETORIC:

  • Menendez: “New Jersey Is Going To Do Exceptionally Well.” (“Menendez: We’re In The Money Feds To Send N.J. Billions,” Jersey Journal, 2/17/09)

STIMULUS REALITY:

As Of September 2010, New Jersey Received $1,192 In Stimulus Money Per Capita – 7th Least Of Any State In The Country. (Pro Publica Website, www.projects.propublica.org, Accessed 4/25/11)

STIMULUS RHETORIC:

  • Menendez: “This Bill Is About Standing Up For New Jersey Families, It Is About Creating Jobs, Jobs And More Jobs.” (Monsy Alvarado, “Officials Tout Stimulus Bill’s Help For The Unemployed,” The [Bergen County, NJ] Record, 2/3/09)

STIMULUS REALITY:

Stimulus Dollars Have Been Thrown At Dubious, If Not Outrageous, Projects, Including:

  • $2 million to capture and study exotic ants
  • $71,000 to study how monkeys react under the influence of cocaine
  • $750,000 to develop a computerized choreography program that could lead to a YouTube-like “Dance Tube” online application
  • $554,000 to replace windows at a Washington visitor center with no plans to reopen the visitor center
  • $54 million to develop a building for the Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut that will also serve as a practice facility for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun women’s professional basketball team
  • $300,000 to study whether Integral Yoga can be an effective method to reduce hot flashes in menopausal women
  • $194,000 to study people’s perceptions of federal stimulus spending.

SOURCE: Sens. Tom Coburn and John McCain, “Summertime Blues: 100 Stimulus Projects That Give Taxpayers The Blues,” msnbcmedia.msn.com, 8/10

 

 

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